In the News: Guar Gum in Hydraulic Fracking Fluid

Recently, the New York Times and other news outlets have reported that many poverty stricken areas in India have been the unwitting beneficiaries of a much needed financial boom from a very unlikely source -- guar beans, a small hard legume. The reason for this recent demand for the bean (or more specifically for the powder or concentrate produced from milling the bean) is similarly to its use as a thickening additive in ice cream, guar has become an essential ingredient in most hydraulic fracturing fluids by increasing viscosity. Below please find additional resources discussing the role of guar in fracking fluids.

Recent News Stories:

Gardiner Harris, In Tiny Bean, India’s Dirt-Poor Farmers Strike Gas-Drilling Gold, NY Times (July 16, 2012).

Christopher Helman, Fracking Boom Means Good Times For India's Guar Farmers, Forbes (July 17, 2012).

Meenakshi Sharma & Selam Gebrekidan, Shale Energy Triggers bean Rush in India, Reuters (May 28, 2012).

Scientific Resources:

Chemicals Use in Hydraulic Fracturing, Hearing Before the H. Comm. on Energy and Commerce, 112th Cong. (2011) (use Ctrl F to search for "guar").

EPA, Evaluation of Impacts to Underground Sources of Drinking Water by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs (2004) (see sec. 4.2.1 Linear Gels) full report.

Ahmad Bahamdan & William H. Daly, Poly(oxyalkylene) Grafts to Guar Gum with Applications in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids, Proceeding of the 8th Polymers for Advanced Technologies International Symposium Budapest, Hungary (Sept. 13-16, 2005).

Aung Kyaw et al., Fracturing Fluid (Guar Polymer Gel) Degradation Study by using Oxidative and Enzyme Breaker, 4 Res. J. of Applied Sci. Engineering & Tech. 1667 (2012).